The present invention relates to a braking apparatus for a brushless motor that generates a braking force by causing a short circuit between terminals of the brushless motor, and a motor-driven appliance provided with the braking apparatus.
For example, in electrical equipment disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 3-74194, upon decelerating or stopping rotation of a three-phase brushless motor, a so-called short-circuit brake is used that causes a short circuit between all terminals of the motor so as to generate a braking force.
In the short-circuit brake, for example, three switching elements (so-called low-side switches) provided in a conduction path between each terminal of the motor and a negative electrode of a direct current power source are turned on, and the other three switching elements (so-called high-side switch) provided in a conduction path between each terminal of the motor and a positive electrode of the direct current power supply are turned off, thereby causing the three-phase brushless motor to generate a braking force.
According to the short-circuit brake, it is possible to brake (decelerate or stop) the motor merely by turning on/off the switching elements used in conduction control of the motor.